Herbert Kegel - Wagner: Parsifal (1978) [2021 SACD]

This recording was recorded live on January 11, 1975, and although it is not a session, it is a masterpiece known as "Parsifal" with an amazing degree of perfection, including each singer. Kegel performed many opera performances in concert style. Actually, there are not so many opera recordings including sessions (there are transcendental recordings such as Carmen, Wozzeck, Moses and Aron), so it is valuable that this recording was left. If anything, German works remind me of the sharp and intense performances of Schönberg's and Berg's operas of later times, but this "Parsifal" maintains the clarity and tension of Kegel, while maintaining a flow of music that is never easy to get tired of. In a sense, it may be said that it is a performance that is the opposite of the 1951 Kuna's DECCA board (PROC1661 Tower Planning Board is on sale on CD). R. Koro's Parsifal and U. Cold's Gurnemanz, who are in their heyday, are particularly excellent, and the world created by these two people is overwhelming. In addition, the chorus of the former East Germany is not limited to this, but the level is very high, and it is one of the elements that can be a masterpiece, including other singers. And the command of Kegel, who leads everything, is wonderfully balanced with a moderate sense of progress and balance while leaving the sound firmly, and it is a truly divine performance that does not lose the feeling of dynamism while leaving the solidity. This rare performance will be released as the first opera project of this Berlin Classics reprint, fully prepared for this release. The SACD is highly adaptable to the sound of vocals, so I hope that the performance evaluation will further increase with this high-quality sound.

~*As it is a machine translation, the result may not provide an accurate description.
Please use it only as a reference.


Tracks:

Parsifal (Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel In 3. Akten)
Vorspiel
1. Akt (He! Ho! Waldhüter Ihr!)
1. Akt (Wann Alles Ratlos Steht)
1. Akt (Ich Hatte Viele, Doch Weiß Ich Ihrer Keinen Mehr)
1. Akt (Mein Sohn Amfortas, Bist Du Am Amt?)

2. Akt (Die Zeit Ist Da)
2. Akt (Komm! Komm! Holder Knabe!)
2. Akt (Die Wunde! Die Wunde! Sie Brennt In Meinem Herzen!)

3. Akt (Von Dorther Kam Das Stöhnen)
3. Akt (Nicht So! Die Heil'ge Quelle Selbst)
3. Akt (Geleiten Wir Im Bergenden Schrein)

Personnel:

Alto Vocals [Klingsors Zaubermädchen] – Ilse Ludwig-Jahns*
Alto Vocals [Knappe, Klingsors Zaubermädchen] – Gisela Pohl
Alto Vocals [Stimme Aus Der Höhe] – Ingeborg Springer
Baritone Vocals [Amfortas] – Theo Adam
Bass Vocals [Gurnemanz] – Ulric Cold*
Bass Vocals [Klingsor] – Reid Bunger
Bass Vocals [Titurel] – Fred Teschler
Bass Vocals [Zweiter Gralsritter] – Hermann Christian Polster
Chorus Master [Choreinstudierung Rundfunkchor Berlin] – Wolf-Dieter Hauschild
Chorus Master [Choreinstudierung Rundfunkchor Leipzig] – Horst Neumann
Chorus Master [Choreinstudierung Thomanerchor Leipzig] – Hans-Joachim Rotzsch
Chorus [Die Brüderschaft Der Gralsritter Jünglinge Und Knaben] – Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Thomanerchor Leipzig*
Conductor – Herbert Kegel
Conductor [Dirigent Der Bühnenmusik] – Jochen Wehner
Design – Gerd Semder
Liner Notes [1978] – Walter Rösler
Lithography – VEB Gotha-Druck
Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Kundry] – Gisela Schröter
Orchestra – Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Leipzig
Photography By – Hansjoachim Mirschel
Soprano Vocals [Klingsors Zaubermädchen] – Helga Termer, Hermi Ambros, Regina Werner
Soprano Vocals [Knappe, Klingsors Zaubermädchen] – Elisabeth Breul
Tenor Vocals [Erster Gralsritter, Knappe] – Horst Gebhardt
Tenor Vocals [Knappe] – Hans-Jürgen Wachsmuth
Tenor Vocals [Parsifal] – René Kollo

Live recording: Leipzig, Kongreßhalle, 11.1.1975